Are Mick Cronin's days numbered? (AP/Al Behrman)
The Cincinnati Bearcats turned in a lackluster performance against the Irish of Notre Dame Thursday in South Bend and received an 83-65 thrashing for their lack of effort.
Thursday's game can be branded as nothing short of a nightmare. The Bearcats couldn't shoot (21-55, 38%), couldn't rebound (41 ND, 31 UC) and couldn't even slow down the Big East's leading scorer, Luke Harangody (37 pts).
[Box Score: Cincinnati at Notre Dame]
With this loss, the Bearcats (14-8 overall, 5-5 Big East) fell into a four-way logjam for 7th place, once again mired in conference mediocrity and teetering on the edge of...well, of nothing.
While the Notre Dame game might not have been a "must-win" game, its as close as the 10th-to-last game gets to being such. Of their 9 remaining games, UC plays 4 teams ranked in the top 7 in the nation. Notre Dame was certainly a "winable" game.
More concerning for Bearcats fans, however, has to be coach Cronin's inability to win on the road. In order to win in the Big East, not only will teams have to be able to knock-off some superpowers, but they are going to have to do so on the road at times. Cronin's 'Cats have just one road win this season and conference road losses at St. John's and Seton Hall that UC simply gave away. Mick's road woes aren't limited to just this season. In his first year, the Bearcats won zero road games. In 2008 three times Cincinnati walked off foreign floors victorious with one being a one-point affair on New Year's Day in Louisville. Last year - in Cronin's third year - UC collected four road wins. Wins over Georgetown, DePaul, and St. John's helped keep the Bearcats around .500 in conference.
Grumblings about Mick Cronin's viability as a Big East coach have begun to pick up.
A home game against No. 3 Syracuse and back-to-back road games against UConn and red-hot South Florida stand between UC and whispers of a repeat of last year's late season collapse growing to roars.
And you can be sure that mixed in with those roars will be calls for coach Cronin's firing.
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Comments
you said logjam
This team has failed to grow and develop and that falls squarely on the coach’s shoulders. They faltered last year down the stretch and it appears as though the scenario is going to repeat this year. It is time for a change
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